At home in the wild

“When l first came to Maralal in the 1980s, one of the most amazing trips was into the Kirisia Hills,” says Rudolf van den Bogaad as we chat over a refreshing glass of champagne at the verandah dining space overlooking the town of Maralal, at Ngari Hill Eco Lodge.

“It was full of beautiful landscapes and wildlife. It was really special. You could see herds of 40 elephants and pastoralists with their livestock living with the wildlife.”

Bogaad is reminiscing with a far-away look in his eyes and continues. “One day I saw two lions and a few metres away there were two Samburu morans walking with their spears and they just passed them.”

Spectacular spot

“I had no idea that one day l would set up a lodge here. I found the place so spectacular that I wanted to share it with other people and create a comfortable place for people to stay while they explored Maralal and its beautiful surroundings.

“This hill gave me the opportunity I really wanted – to work with the local community and create something really unique.”

Bogaard at the time was working on his PhD based on livelihood and development in the arid regions of northern Kenya.

Trees everywhere

“This hill was a disaster in 1996. It was bare,” he continues.

Looking around the hill that’s a stone’s throw away from the exquisite Kirisia Hills, it seems unreal. It’s green with trees planted everywhere.

Starting with a drought management project, Bogaard’s first call was to stop soil erosion on the hill by planting a mix of indigenous and fast-growing exotics. Then the lodge began to take shape organically. The luxury cottage has quirky features like a tree branch painted silver as a shower stand.

The forest reserve is fascinating and like most forests of the northern mountains, it’s barely explored. Kirisia Hills are home to migrating elephants and other large mammals, and fascinating flocks of forest birds and peculiar primates that are extremely rare.

Reading through Iregi Mwenja’s research report on primates of Samburu published in 2008, he writes about a subspecies of colobus monkey called Mt Uarges Guereza –named after Mt Uarges, the highest mountain range of Mathews range on the southern end.

In 2006, Mwenja and his team found Mt Uarges guereza along Wamba river valley on Mt Uarges and on the upper reaches of River Ng’eny. The Mt Uarges guereza (Colobus guereza percivali) is the only subspecies of guereza colobus listed as endangered in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List.

However, there’s little research to date – save for Mwenja’s – to determine its distribution and present status.

The sub-species is endemic to Samburu.

A population in Kirisia Hills and Leroghi forest was last seen by forest guards in 2006. They are now believed to be in the dense and inaccessible part of the forest due to two decades of persistent poaching by locals who highly value its skin.

I’m looking forward to another foray into Kirisia Hills – I’ve been through it on a week’s safari on camel back, camped in it but never really been deep into the forest.

Now with Maralal becoming more accessible and with beautiful places to stay at, the forests may generate income from responsible tourism which may then be channelled into research and management plans to save the last of the wild.

Roaming free

Driving out of Maralal near Suguta Marmar, a huge grey figure appears by the side of the road. At first I think it’s a rock but when it moves, I see that it’s a huge male elephant with magnificent tusks; it is in musth (that’s when they are looking for mates). It’s browsing and at ease. We stop and watch for a few minutes – happy to see an elephant still roaming free.